ncis Tag Archives — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Harassing the defense?

September 18, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

We regularly get reports from clients and their families about being harassed by NCIS, CID, CGIS, OSI. In general what the client is reacting to is the law enforcement fishing expedition. During a law enforcement fishing expedition. This law enforcement fishing expedition is where they go around to friends and neighbors telling them what a bad person the client is and seeking more bad information. So what happens when the defense starts to get effective in their own investigation?

Here is a North County Times report:

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, its agents, Camp Pendleton military police and a San Diego Marine staff judge advocate on behalf of a North County woman who alleges they violated her constitutional rights with intimidation and harassment.

Up periscope

September 13, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a book review of Richard North Patterson’s new book which is about a court-martial. Yes, it’s about a Army officer who returns from Iraq, kills his former commander, and

As the case unfolds, Mr. Patterson gives the reader a tutorial in military justice as well as the complexities of PTSD. He also makes clear his stand against the war through testimonies from personnel involved with McCarran in Iraq.

The tension rises throughout the court-martial: Will the judge allow PTSD as a defense? Will the jury believe how the war changed not just McCarran, but the man he killed?

Afghan and foreign AWOLs update 4

June 19, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fox News reports that:

Texas senator is demanding answers from the Air Force on the current status of the 10 AWOL Afghan military deserters, which he called a breach of national security.

The initial number of Afghans being floated was 17. Now:

Interrogations

May 6, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is a new article on interrogation tactics.

Davis & Leo on the "Sympathetic Detective" Interrogation Strategy

Deborah Davis and Richard A. Leo (University of Nevada, Reno and University of San Francisco – School of Law) have posted Selling Confession: Setting the Stage with the ‘Sympathetic Detective with a Time-Limited Offer’ (Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

The effectiveness of an interrogation tactic dubbed the “sympathetic detective with a time limited offer” was tested. Participants read two versions of an interrogation transcript, with and without the tactic. Those who read the sympathetic detective version believed the detective had greater authority to determine whether and with what to charge the suspect, more beneficent intentions toward the suspect, and viewed confession as more wise. However, regression analyses indicated that for innocent suspects, only perceptions of the strength of evidence against the suspect and the detective’s beneficence and authority predicted the perceived wisdom of false confession. Interrogation tactics were generally effective, as indicated by participant recommendations of confession (versus invoking Miranda, denial, or continuing to talk without admitting guilt) for both innocent (16.7%) and guilty (74.4%) suspects; and reasons offered for participants’ recommendations for confession versus other choices generally conformed to those reported by real-life confessors and interrogation scholars.

Career up in air

February 4, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

You’ll recollect the tale of Navy Captain Lisa Nowak, commented here. Meteor burns out. . . .

Officials from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service last week took custody of the evidence in the case of former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, a Navy captain.

Florida Today reports. The report has an excellent time-line of the strange events in this case.